World number four Rafael Nadal has been practicing hard for the past few weeks in his hometown of Mallorca in Spain after his surprise first-round defeat at Wimbledon and the Rogers Cup in Montreal which begins on Monday will test if his efforts have paid off.
“I’m approaching this part of the season in exactly the same way,” said Nadal, referring to the North American hardcourt season.
“Of course, what happened in the four months I’ve been able to compete this year was fantastic, but there’s still lots more to come and you have to be well prepared.”
Nadal has a 43-3 win-loss record this season and he has amassed seven titles out of nine final appearances. He’s won the Roland Garros for the record eighth time but he fell short at Wimbledon where he crashed out in the opening round against Steve Darcis of Belgium.
He will be participating in his eleventh tournament of the year and he’s aiming to win his 25th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at Rogers Cup or Montreal Masters. This year alone, the Spaniard accumulated three Masters title – in Indian Wells (defeated Juan Martin Del Potro), Mutua Madrid Open (defeated Stanislas Wawrinka) and Rome Masters (defeated Roger Federer). He’s a two-time winner at Rogers Cup – in 2005 (defeated Andre Agassi in Montreal) and 2008 (defeated Nicolas Kiefer in Toronto).
“I will try to arrive competitive in Montreal,” said Nadal, “because seven weeks without playing isn’t ideal for competing in such a difficult tournament, with the best players in the world. But I’ll do everything possible for things to go well.”
The Montreal Masters begins on August 5, Monday.
